Diversity of Marine Algae in the Biosphere 2 Ocean Essay

Coral reefs exist all over the world and are generally known as being one of the most diverse, intricate and beautiful of all existing marine habitats. They have many varying structures which are developed by algae and are symbiotic with various reef building corals which are referred to as, zooxanthellae (algae). There are many other factors such as, coralline algae, sponges and other various organisms that are combined with a number of cementation processes which also contribute to reef growth, (CORAL REEFS, 2015).

Underwater grasses, or Elodea, was observed as well. This wide variety of life is a good indicator of the water’s health.

Kelp forests are seen as the ultimate ecological engineer in coastal areas. They exist in marine environments spanning in southern California, Aleutian Islands, and the western north Atlantic. Light, latitude, and water temperature and nutrients all play a role in facilitating the growth of kelp forests all around the world, (Bolton). Kelp specifically dominates the shallow rocky coasts of the world‘s cold water marine habitats. Although they look as a free-growing plant, they are in fact primarily of brown algae. These structures provide food and shelter to a huge mix of biota, including crabs, sea urchins, mollusks, and other marine organisms (Steneck). The fronds, or large leaves of the kelp are the distinctive feature that can represent where a specific kelp may be found. The sizes of these organisms can range from the smallest found near California and Alaska at 5m to giant kelp up to 45m in length found on the west coasts of North and South America (Hamilton).

It is a very common photosynthetic dinoflagellate found year round in the Gulf of Mexico. These dinoflagellates have two whip like appendages that enable them to propel themselves through the open water. K. brevis thrive in warm waters with high salinity. The Gulf of Mexico meets these conditions perfectly which is where there is such an abundance of K. brevis in the area. The region where K. brevis blooms the most is along the West Florida Shelf, extending from Key West all the way to the Panhandle coast in the North. In this region, there is discharge from several rivers and coastal upwelling will often occur (Li and Weisberg, 1999). The currents in this area are influenced by win and tides, and the Continental Shelf contributes to the circulation. This zone is a shallow ecosystem that has a wide variety of communities and sections. These include mangroves, seagrass banks, and coral barrier reeds. This area is very diverse and serves the economy in more ways than one. It is important for commercial fishing and for tourism. It is important that the water quality remains in good condition because it is in this area that the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and the Everglades National Park are located. Blooming season in these regions typically begins around August and will last all the way through to early Spring, around March. More than 80% of K. brevis blooms have taken place in

Bolton & Anderson (1990) found that the intertidal zones of the west coast (mean SST of 13°C) and the south coast (mean SST of 18°C) were comprised of different dominating species although the sites were less than 500 km apart. West of the cape, the sublittoral zones were dominated by Laminaria sp (including L. pallida and L. schinzii). The sublittoral zones of the southern portion of the cape were dominated by smaller species such as Zongaria subarticulata. The midlittoral zone for both the west and south were dominated by Gigartina spp., however, the dominate species of the south coast, G. pristoides, was not even present along the west coast (Bolton & Anderson, 1990). Gigartina stiriata and G.radula dominated the midlittoral zone for the west coast sites (Bolton & Anderson, 1990). Although Bolton & Anderson (1990) did not examine species in the supralittoral zone, research along the coast of South Africa completed by Stephenson & Stephenson (1937) indicates that in the upmost intertidal zone of both the west and south coast of the cape, Porphyra capensis is the primary algae present, with Bostrychia spp. also represented.

The red algae Polysiphonia sp. 1 does not survive well in areas along the reef where the damselfish are not present because it is often grazed on and does not survive as well as other algae. It holds a mutualistic relationship with damselfish because while these fish do graze on the algae they do not consume it completely and allow the algae to continue to grow as well. Eighteen damselfish species were used in this study in different territories throughout the Indo-West Pacific to study their relationship with the red alga. Polysiphonia sp. 1 was found in the central Indo-Pacific but was low in abundance from the Great Barrier Reef and Mauritius, and the algae were also found in territories of fishes from the African coast. Other species of the clade in this alga were found only where damselfish inhabited the area as well. The results showed that the cultivation mutualism was maintained throughout the Indo-Pacific even though variations were seen among the mode of cultivation. From this it can be gathered that damselfish in different regions have different methods of cultivating the algae and this in turn affects the algae

A marine biome is a large aquatic zone that takes up almost 75% of Earth’s surface, has a salt concentration around 3%, and is distinguished from other biomes by its physical environment. According to Campbell Essential Biology with Physiology, (2010), the habitats of a marine biome varies depending on the level of the sea that it exists (pp.382). The layers or “zones” that make up the marine biome consist of the pelagic realm, the intertidal zone, the photic zone, the aphotic zone, and the benthic realm.

It is especially important to study and understand the characteristics of these oceanographic profiles, as it is this primary production that will have large impacts on species diversity and marine food web assemblages.

The ocean is one of, if not, the largest biome on earth. There are more than one million species of marine life. Covering over 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, the ocean is our planet’s largest habitat, containing 99 percent of the living space on the planet. This area holds the life of nearly 50 percent of all species on Earth. Like lakes, oceans are subdivided into separate zones: intertidal, pelagic, abyssal, and benthic. All four zones have a great diversity of species. The intertidal zone is the region along the shoreline between average low tide and average high tide. In other words, this region goes through cycles of submergence and exposure to air. Animals in this zone must be able to survive the extended periods

Chlorophyll-a is a specific form of Chlorophyll, used in oxygenic photosynthesis. Measurement and determination of this parameter are the basic analysis to evaluate the characteristics of algae blooms in many research works in the world. Unfortunately, Chlorophyll-a represents just the whole quantity of photosynthesis pigment released from all algae and micro-plants present in water, hence it cannot help to distinguish cyanobacteria existence among all living micro plants and algae in the waterbody. To be able to define and confirm the existence of Cyanobacteria species in the composition of aquatic microalgae, another pigment form, Phycocyanin, is used. Phycocyanin is the pigment, which differs cyanobacteria species from another planktonic species, and could give us a real picture of quantity of cyanobacterial genera in the water. Phycocyanin is actually a pigment-protein complex from the light-harvesting phycobiliprotein family, along with allophycocyanin and phycoerythrin. It is considered as an accessory pigment to

Through the Biology 124 Lab class on the spring 2016, my classmates, professor, and I went to Maunalua Bay for initial monitoring. I had never been there, so I surprised the difference between the real bay and what I expected. The Maunalua Bay is cleaner and more beautiful than I expected. I thought that there are more rocks, but there are more algae and sea animals than rocks. I found Asparagopsis taxiformis, Avrainvillea amadelpha, Gracilaria salicornia, shrimp, crab, and hermit crab. There are Avrainvillea amadelpha the most. I enjoyed finding many algaes and sea animals, and counting the algaes in Maunalua Bay.

Continuing our studies of these underwater distributions of dead diatoms will help us come to understand how oceans reacted to eras of greater climate change in the past, said Dutkiewicz. Color coding (visible on the map) represents what composes the seafloor from region to region: light green is “diatom ooze,” which is a mix of mud and diatom bits; blue is “calcareous ooze,” which is mud and calcium carbonate from microscopic shelled animals; and brown is simply clay. Red spots are volcanic ash and gravel, and yellow is

Biomes are large areas or regions of the earth that inhabit diverse groups of plants and animals, who’ve adjusted to the climate and weather of their native ecosystem. People need to understand that the eight biomes are fragile to human interference. When humans pollute, cut, and do other harmful actions to a biome, it can cause the irreversible damage that leads to the entire biome collapsing. It’s important to understand that biomes are valuable parts of the earth that should be left alone or else there will be large consequences on the animals and plants within them.

Seaweed is marine algae. Large algae is also known as macro algae. Although seaweed is sometimes mistaken for plants, they are not actually plants because they lack roots, stems and leaves. Like sea grass, seaweed requires sunlight for photosynthesis. Since they don't inherit roots they require hard surfaces to attach themselves to so they don't float away. Brown and red algae are usually found closer to shore, whereas red and green seaweed is found more further away in offshore areas. Algae play a large role in the ecology of the Great Barrier Reef. They create habitats for numerous invertebrates and vertebrates. In addition they are a major food source for various

The specific conditions that determine the distinct species composition of phytoplankton blooms in the southwestern Ross Sea are not well understood. The high correlation reported between species distribution and MLD suggests that diatoms are better adapted than P. antarctica to the higher irra- diance characteristics of a shallow MLD, whereas P. antarctica is better adapted to low light levels and may be inhibited at high irradiance (Arrigo et al. 2000). However, field evidence to support this contention is equivocal (Van Hilst and Smith 2002; Robinson et al. 2003). Alternative hypotheses include species-specific differences in requirements for micronutrients, differences in the composition of pre-bloom phytoplankton seed populations, and differential rates of grazing by zooplankton (Van Hilst and Smith 2002). In addition, Robinson et al. (2003) suggested that the degree of variability of the light fields produced in deeply (more variable) and shallowly mixed (less variable) water columns, rather than the